Faruk Choudhury has become Bristol’s youngest ever Lord Mayor. He is also the first Lord Mayor to be a Muslim and the first Asian to wear the ceremonial chains of office.
The 38-year-old Easton councillor was born in Bangladesh and has been married to his wife Shilpi for 14 years, with their three children all attending Hotwells Primary School.
Property businessman Choudhury used to own the Joy Raj restaurant in Clifton and is currently looking for a location to open a new company, the Mango Indian Deli.
He lists his interests on the council website’s Lord Mayor page as: “Politics, Worldwide affairs, Community engagements, include advocacy and mentoring work in building proactive communities. Passionately follow Cricket and Football. Likes to travel with family at most opportunities, enjoy the experience of new cities cultures, food and languages.”
The Lord Mayor is a ceremonial position with the real power remaining in the hands of elected mayor George Ferguson.
However, it is also the job of the Lord Mayor to chair meetings of the full council.
Choudhury’s first diary engagements from next week include attending the Royal Bath & West Show, a St John’s Ambulance award presentation and a meeting of Hartcliffe & Withywood Teenage Parents Group, and officiating at a number of citizenship ceremonies.
Great news! Well done, Faruk Choudhury.
stupidly, I decided to research this story a little further. And of course thisisbristol had run a story about Faruk’s appointment, which seemed pretty balanced, but of course, I couldn’t resist checking out the comments section, only to find the dregs of Bristol’s inhabitants trolling away, exclaiming the loss of Great British culture, and bemoaning political correctness gone mad. My fault of course, why do I ever bother with that tired old hate rag?
As to Faruk, I know nothing of the man, but I wish him luck and hope he brings good vibes to Bristol